Russia chides Tillerson over U.S. rhetoric on North Korea

MOSCOW - 7 December 2017: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that U.S. military exercises and aggressive rhetoric were causing an escalation in tension on the Korean peninsula, the Russian foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Lavrov, who met Tillerson on the sidelines of a conference in Vienna, said that was unacceptable, the ministry said in a statement. Lavrov called for the renewal of "responsible" work to find a negotiated solution to the stand-off over North Korea's weapons programme, the ministry said.